MEET THE PRESS RETURNS TO THIRD PLACE

Viewers of the Sunday morning interview shows gave Chuck Todd, David Gregory’s replacement on NBC’s Meet the Press, a look-see when he took over last month, lifting the show to second place behind the perennial winner, CBS’s Face the Nation. But the show returned to third place last weekend, down 22 percent from Todd’s debut among total viewers and 38 percent among the 25-54 age group that advertisers are looking for when they buy news and talk shows. Last Sunday Meet the Press averaged just 2.35 million total viewers and 508,000 in the demo. Meanwhile, Jon Stewart has confirmed that he was approached by NBC execs to take over the moderator’s job on MTP. In a Rolling Stone interview, Stewart said, "My guess is they were casting as wide and as weird a net as they could," he says. "I’m sure part of them was thinking, ‘Why don’t we just make it a variety show?’"